Washing-machine.



PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906.

P. P. ANKERSON. WASHING MACHINE. APPLIOATIQN FILED JU I.Y18,1905.

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UNITED STATES To all whom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL P. ANnERsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Vashing-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to washing-machines.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of washing-machines, and to provide an exceedingly simple and inexpensive one capable of rapidly and.

thoroughly washing the clothes and other fabrics without injuring the same.

A further object of the invention is to improve the construction of that class of washing-machines having oscillatory bodies and movable agitators and to provide a washingmachine having an oscillatory body adapted "to present curved rubbing-surfaces to the clothes and capable through its momentum of enabling gearing for actuating the agitator to be easily operated, whereby the washingmacliine may be conveniently operated.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a wasliing-machine of this character having a hinged cover carrying the agitator and a portion of the gearing for operating the same and adapted when opened to swing such gearing and the agitator clear of the washing-machine body for affording access to all portions thereof.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a washing-machine constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures of the drawings.

1 designates an oscillatory washing-niachine body of approximately cylindrical shape, preferably tapered slightly toward the top and provided at opposite sides with pivots or journals 2, which are arranged in Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 18,1905. Serial No. 270,270.

PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL P. ANKERSON, OF DAVENPOR", IOWA.

WASHING-'MACHINE Patented Sept. 25, 1906.

suitable bearings of standards 3 of a support or stand. The support or stand, which may be of any preferred construction, is provided with opposite bottom bars 4, which form the base of the stand or support, and the standards are connected at a point beneath the washing-machine body by a transverse bar 5.

The washing-machine body is provided with a corrugated inner face 6, forming curved rubbing-surfaces and preferably extending from the bottom of the body to within a short distance of the upper edges of the sides 5 but the tub or body may be constructed in any other desired manner.

The washing-machine body is provided with a hinged cover 7, which is adapted to be swung backward to carry an agitator 8 out of the body, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The agitator, which preferably consists of a circular body portion and a plurality of depending clothes engaging arms 9, is mounted on a vertical shaft 10, which pierces the top of the washing-iiiachine body and which is journaled in suitable bearings of the same and in a central bearing-bracket 11. The clothesengaging arms 9 are arranged at an inclination and extend downwardly and outwardly in the direction of the rubbing-surface of the washing-machine body when the agitator is operated by the means hereinafter described, and they are adapted to cause the clothes to engage the rubbing-surfaces of the sides of the washing-machine body. The bracket 11 is approximately inverted-U-shaped, and it consists of sides and a top connecting portion, the sides being provided at their lower ends with attachment-fianges having perforations for the reception of screws or other suitable fastening devices for securing the bracket to the top of the washing-machine body.

I/Vithin the bracket is arranged a horizontal bevel-gear 12, suitably fixed to the vertical shaft and meshing with a vertical bevel-gear 13, which is mounted on a horizontal shaft 14, The horizontal shaft 14 is journaled in suitable bearings of inner and outer arms 15 and 16 of a side bearing-bracket 17. The horizontal shaft is provided at its outer end with a spurpinion 1S, which meshes with spurteeth 19 of a fixed segment 20, secured to one of the standards of the stand or support and extending upward from the same to a point above the plane of the top of the washingmachine body. The segment is vertical and the spur-teeth aie arranged at the upper edge IOO ITO

of the same, the pinion being located above the segment, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings, and'being adapted to swing in and out of mesh with the same to permit the 5 cover of the washing-machine body to be opened and closed.

The washing-machine body is provided with a handle 21, projecting a suitable distance from the body to enable the latter to be easily oscillated and having its inner portion detachably secured to the same. The inner portion of the handle is preferably fitted in inner and outer loops 22 and 23, forming sockets for the handle, and' adapted to permit the same tobe readily detached after the operation of washing has been completed.

When the washing-machine body is oscillated, the clothes are alternately thrown from one side of the sameto the other, and the washing-machine body presents opposite curved rubbing-.surfaces to the said clothes, which are rubbed Vby means of the agitator. The oscillation of the body also forces water and suds through the clothes, which are thereby rapidly and thoroughlywashed without injury. The oscillation of the body and the backward and forward movement of its contents enable the gearing for rotating the agitator to be easily opeated by a child or adult. When the body is swung in one direction, the fixed segme t causes a rotation of the horizontal shaft, vd rotary motion is communicated to the a itator, which in practice will be rotated ab7'ut three-quarters of a revolution, and when the washing-machine body is swung in the opposite direction the direction of the rotation of the agitator will be reversed. This prevents the clothes collecting in a wad at any point and causes all portions of the clothes to be exposed to the action of the water and the suds and also to the action of the curved rubbing-surfaces, and the clothes and other fabrics will be uniformly cleaned. The diameters of the gears may-be J, 5 varied to secure the desired speed and the dein the presence of two witnesses.

sired amount of rotary movement of the agitator, so that a comparatively slight oscillation of the washing-machine body will operate the machine.

, The washing-machine body is designedn practice to be provided with a wringer-support of the ordinary construction. The wringer-support is designed to be located at the side of the body opposite that at which the handle is arranged when onlyone handle is employed. In this position it will be out of the way of the operator and also out` of the way of the hinged cover.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with an oscillatory body having a movable cover, of a rotary agitator, a fixed segment, and gearing mounted on the cover for imparting a rotary movement to the agitator, said gearing meshing with the fixed segment when the cover is closed and carried into and out of mesh with the segment by the opening and closing move-- ments of the cover.

2. The combination with an oscillatory body having atmovable cover, of an agitator provided with a vertical shaft extending through the cover, a horizontal gear mounted on the said shaft, the horizontal shaft carried by the cover and provided with inner and outer gears, the-,inner gear meshing with the said horizontal gear, .and a xed segment meshing with the outer gear when the` cover is closed, the said outer gear being carried into and out of mesh with the segment by the opening and closing movements of the cover.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature PAUL P. ANKERSON. 

